Stella Leventoyannis Harvey

Humble and Understated But Proud

A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.” Mahatma Gandhi   

Canada is celebrating its 150th birthday this weekend. In addition to the parties and street celebrations, several companies have taken this opportunity to support Canadians to do what we do best: give back. Check out the Royal Bank campaign  to help youth make a difference in their communities. Or how about the special initiatives other organizations have implemented to celebrate our sesquicentennial.

These initiatives tap into the essence of our Canadian character: kindness and generosity. And as it turns out, this was the theme of my own story, recently published in CBC's What's Your Story. This national storytelling project, launched to celebrate Canada 150, collected personal stories about what defined Canada.    

Spoiler alert, there are some embarrassing pictures in my essay about a strange school project, I had to complete about 100 years ago, but hey, it’s the least I can do for the country that gave me a home and every opportunity to succeed and belong. I’m teary-eyed and filled with pride as I write this line and humble and understated as any other Canadian.

Happy Canada Day!

© All Rights Reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, all blog content copyright Stella L Harvey